1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electrolyte-membraneless microbial fuel cell, in-series stack thereof, and in-parallel combination thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is well known as a promising technology that generates electricity from waste organic matter. However, it is not actually used in waste water disposal plants because there are many technical problems in scaling up. In order to solve the technical problems, structure of unit cells that simplifies the system and is scaled up is required, which also needs to be stacked so as to configure a module system.
An existing MFC has the structure including two chambers and an electrolyte membrane therebetween and is difficult to scale up in the structure. Further, using the electrolyte membrane increases cost for configuring the system and has a problem in that the membrane may be contaminated during operation. Moreover, it is required to increase mechanical property of the electrolyte membrane so that it endures high pressure.
In order to scale up an MFC, a module system in which MFCs are stacked is required. In order for an MFC to generate power actually usable, it should generate voltage of at least 3V to 5V. However, a single MFC cannot reach those levels. Therefore, MFCs are provided as a module system in which MFCs are stacked on one another.